The Drow War Book One - Chillhame

[Evil Ujio]

Prologue

Sometime 1000 years in the past on the island of Chillhame…

He was going to die…

Starkweather John leans against a tree, the night sky a wash with pinpricks of starlight, the moon full in the sky. He coughed, blood trickling from his throat, a grim smile coming to his lips, “At least I went out fighting.”

He instinctively dodged aside an arcane bolt of energy ripping the tree in half with a thunderous force. His assailant moved quickly through the trees, equally wounded and desperate. The night went bright as the blade in John’s hand blazed to life; he charged the dark form of his attacker a drow evoker of great power who had already slain his companions and was bent on finishing the task he had begun.

The drow cackled loudly as it easily spotted John’s glowing blade, an incantation already springing to mind. The drow held the spell in reserve as he sauntered forward, “You would do well to die, man thing; this resistance will do little to deter the inevitable you will die tonight.”

John relaxed his breathing; he focused his mind, before he dashed around the tree and charged the drow wizard. His grim demeanor glared straight into the black heart of the drow evoker. The drow let the spell go from his out stretched palm as a ball of energy consisting of several elements flashed forward then most mortals should be able to comprehend.

But John kept his resolve, his blade flashed forward, absorbing the cataclysmic spell, the blade crackling with power. It was a last ditch effort of a desperate hero, but thankfully it was enough. The drow blinked before the glowing blade pierced his slight frame shattering his magical and physical defenses.

John impaled the dark elf on his blade and pinned him against a tree. The blade pulsed before its energy ripped through the drow evoker blasting John back into the ground. His enchanted armor of adamantium smoking, his flesh burning, and his life quickly fading… but he knew that he had succeeded… and finally he could rest.

John lie on his back and looked at the stars, there were so many, yet he felt like he knew them. They were calling to him; calling him home, he raised a hand to the chorus of voices, he could rest… until he was called upon again… he could rest.

Thus ended the life of the legendary hero, Starkweather John.

 

[Evil Ujio]

Enter the Heroes...

At first, it feels as if you must be dreaming. The sense of dislocation, the giddiness, the feeling of flying rapidly through space, all add to the unreality. Where are you? What were you doing a moment ago? These thoughts arise in your mind, as if you were half-awake, on the borderlands of consciousness. Perhaps you have been knocked senseless, or poisoned with some hallucinogenic drug. One thing is certain; you are in a strange place and you do not remember how you came here.

What you can see before you is as clouded and vague as the contents of your mind. There seems to be nothing but mist, swirling in eddies around you, with a suggestion of huge shapes briefly glimpsed through it. The mist is cold on your face and with a start you realise that this is no dream. You are here, physically here in your body, fully dressed and carrying your equipment. There is wet grass beneath your feet. You feel no pain, so it stands to reason that you were not knocked out and dragged here. How, then, did you come to be here?

Alone in the mist, you wonder why you do not feel more afraid. There is a presence here, something old and comforting, like a childhood memory.

The mist begins to clear. In the faint light of a new day, you see the huge forms that you glimpsed before. They are megaliths – standing stones that tower over you, set into the form of a circle. This place is achingly familiar to you, yet you have never been here before.

Through the thinning mists, you see that you are not alone. There are others here, and by the look of them, they are as surprised to find themselves here as you are.

Each of your characters awakens by a standing stone, there are twelve stones in all and they form a rough ring around you. But you feel that the stone you stand before is somehow connected to you. Both Endur’s character and Thanee’s character stand near the same stone; the rest stand in front of a different stone. It is dark and misty… but the stones are visible… let the game begin.

 

[Festy_Dog]

Saxon rose to his feet, and brushed himself off. Mzarem nudged his leg, to which Saxon replied with pat on the head. This was not the small village of Heatherton, to which Saxon thought he was headed, Heatherton was reputed to have more mist. Not long later the megaliths and assembly of elves had become apparent. Mzarem whined behind him and Saxon turned to see that he too stood before a megalith. He coughed a couple of times, then turned back to the others.

"Perhaps one of you could enlighten me as to what is happening?" he asked.

The initial thought that he was involved in some kind of elven ritual was soon discarded when he realised that for the most part these elves didn't seem to be prepared for any ritual. Nonetheless since elves seemed to be the... 'favoured' race, favoured by whom he couldn't tell, perhaps they had a better understanding of what was going on.

Mzarem wandered up beside Saxon and sat, casting an appraising eye on the others present.

 

[Voadam]

"I just seem to have appeared here in front of this stone out of the mist. I don't know if that will bring you to a higher level of existence or not though, human. I am Enthalus Moonwillow. My guess based on the mist, stones, and apparent random magic would be interaction of the fey, though anything is possible at this moment."

 

[Voadam]

ooc any markings on the stones, perhaps coinciding with our astrology signs and birthmarks?

 

[Evil Ujio]

ooc any markings on the stones, perhaps coinciding with our astrology signs and birthmarks?

Enthalus rolls a Search check of 15, and can discern through the moss that covers the stone; a symbol that looks just similar to his birthmark. Perhaps an astrological sign?

 

[Thanee]

Kyalia

Kyalia stands up and straightens her clothing, then she takes a look around at the other elves and the human present. She immediately notices, that two females are present, and both appeared near the same stone.

“Well met! My name is Kyalia,” she says in the elven language, a natural choice given the company, bowing slightly towards the others, “I serve the lady of the woodlands. Like you, I can only guess what our purpose here is, but I am certain, that there is one.”

 

[Endur]

Description: Female Elf, Long Blonde hair in a ponytail, tan skin appearently covered with black tattoos (actually ink that washes off), green eyes, 5'0", 100 lbs., 130 years old.


The female elf responds to the others slowly.

"I don't understand. I can't remember."
Faster, almost frantic.
"Where are we? What is happening? Why can't I remember?"

 

[Festy_Dog]

"Oh, my apologies," Saxon said, realising he had failed to introduce himself. He continued in elven, [elven]"I am Saxon, and my canine companion is Mzarem. We are but humble servants of Melmoth."[/elven]

Saxon proceeded to walk about the ring of megaliths, inspecting them and the vines on them. Mzarem followed close behind.

[elven]"Excuse me, Enthalus?"[/elven] he asked, noticing Enthalus was paying attention to one of the megaliths, [elven]"Anything of interest?"[/elven]

 

[Thanee]

Kyalia

Kyalia turns to the other woman, saying:

“I don't remember coming here, either, and from the looks of it, noone here does. It is surely the gods will, that we came here, and hopefully we will soon find out why this came to pass.”

Lacking the necessary skills or force of personality, she cannot calm her down well. It does become apparent, however, that her faith in her deity is enough to cope with this unusual situation.

After Saxon pointed out that Enthalus might have found something on the stones, Kyalia turns around and investigates the megalith behind her carefully, hoping to find a clue to all of this.